Professor George Constantinides is head of our Circuits and Systems Research Group, Professor of Digital Computation, and the Royal Academy of Engineering / Imagination Technologies Research Chair.
As an undergraduate, he studied ISE (now known as EIE – Electronic and Information Engineering) in our department, before doing a PhD here, and was an active member of political clubs and societies.
Maths ‘Wizard’
Beyond his family, he lists his main outside interest as "old-school" gaming such as D&D, Magic: The Gathering. “I've been playing D&D so long that when I started, elf was a class.” For those who don’t think retro-gaming is cool, you might be inspired instead to know you probably own or have owned a mobile phone that contains — deep within it — something George has co-invented.
“I always knew about engineering because my Dad is an engineer. As a child, I became heavily interested in programming. When I found I was good at maths too, it seemed like a natural step to become an Engineer.”
His current research is in efficient computation, most recently for next generation artificial intelligence. “My time is focused on inventing new ways to do computation - working across hardware and software - in collaboration with industry.”
Girls already find themselves funnelled down non-Engineering-friendly routes.. through a combination of social factors that are not always actively challenged.."
George has been a school governor at primary and secondary, and has worked with schools to develop Imperial maths challenges for older primary children, and run a primary maths club. This has given him some extra insight into how we need to focus on making sure girls stay engaged in STEM subjects early on.